There’s a simple way to get more of the right people (potential clients) paying attention to your content on social media, and it’s right under your nose.
Quick backstory:
Back in my internet marketing days, I was getting customers for my online courses by growing my list of subscribers and communicating with them almost 100% with email.
(This method worked to create over $1 million in online sales over a few years time.)
My number one challenge was: how do I get people to OPEN my emails?
Only 11-20% of emails even get opened in the first place. And if people didn’t open my email, they didn’t read my content, and I couldn’t create customers.
So I became a detective, running experiments and tracking results, in my quest to learn how to get results.
It turned out that the factors that determine whether your email gets opened or deleted, in order are: your email subject line, from email address and name, and email preview (aka the first sentence.)
If you want people to read or watch your content on social media, the same principles apply.
The biggest contributing factor to getting people to consume your content is your opening line or title.
If you can’t grab their attention right away, they’re back to scrolling, and your visibility suffers in the algorithm.
I see plenty of good content with a boring or tepid opening, and it makes my heart sad to know all the people who aren’t seeing it.
So what kind of opening lines grab attention?
In all my years of testing email subject lines, there were two types of subjects that got the highest open rates:
Emotional subject lines. Example: “I can’t believe this happened to me!” or “Please don’t hate me.”
Benefit-driven subject lines. Example: “How to get more client leads from your posts immediately” or “The scary effective way to get everything you want and change the world.”
An emotional opening sentence is immediately compelling. It piques your curiosity and draws you into a story.
The challenge with an emotional opener is that it can be overdone. You can only begin with, “I’m so excited about this!” so many times before I’m rolling my eyes.
Also, make sure you deliver on your opener’s promise. If you start with, “I can’t believe this happened! Life will never be the same again…” and then proceed to describe the new hand soap you’ve discovered, it just might damage your credibility.
Please use emotion when it’s authentic and aligned.
Now, benefit-driven openers are ALWAYS a good idea.
Answer the question: why should someone read/view this piece of content? What can they expect to get out of it?
And tell them up front.
If you tell me I’m about to learn how to effortlessly integrate exercise into my daily routine — and I’ve been struggling to get my butt off the couch — you have my full attention.
Most people make the mistake of opening with a general expository sentence like this:
“I was watching a documentary on health and wellness the other day, and it got me thinking about how important our health really is. I highly recommend it if you’d like a jolt of inspiration.”
There’s nothing in that opening line that indicates you’re about to save me from living my life as a couch potato. If that’s all I can see of your content, you’ve lost me. I never get to see the awesomeness to follow.
When you’re creating content designed to get leads and clients, focus on an opening line directly relating to a challenge or desire of your soulmate client that YOU help them with.
Don’t make them wait for it! Let them know it’s in their best interest to keep reading.
It requires connecting their needs directly to the service you provide.
Done this way, you don’t have just anyone reading your content; you get the type of people with the problem you solve, consuming content that lets you both help them and position yourself as the natural choice as an expert guide.
To really nail this home, pay attention to the content you take the time to consume on FB, YouTube or in your inbox.
What attracts your attention? How can you do this for your audience?
When you create content like this, people come to associate your posts with value. You’ll even have fans who consume everything you put out, simply because they’ve come to expect a worthwhile experience.
If you’d like help creating transformational content that attracts clients AND delivers value, drawing out and articulating your genius is one of my greatest joys. 🙂
I have a six week beta-program for experienced coaches, healers and wellness practitioners working with me one-on-one to craft irresistible offers and transformational content that attracts 3-5 soulmate client leads per week with joyful un-marketing.
This program is for good (or great) writers and/or speakers who love sharing their expertise, and already get results for clients. PM me here for more details if you’re interested and we’ll chat to see if it’s a match.
Yours in creative play,
Steph
